Version 1
: Received: 7 October 2019 / Approved: 9 October 2019 / Online: 9 October 2019 (08:05:38 CEST)
How to cite:
Hawthorne, M.; McMenamin, M.; De la Salle, P. How Plesiosaurs Swam: New Insights into Their Underwater Flight Using “Ava”, a Virtual Pliosaur. Preprints2019, 2019100094. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0094.v1
Hawthorne, M.; McMenamin, M.; De la Salle, P. How Plesiosaurs Swam: New Insights into Their Underwater Flight Using “Ava”, a Virtual Pliosaur. Preprints 2019, 2019100094. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0094.v1
Hawthorne, M.; McMenamin, M.; De la Salle, P. How Plesiosaurs Swam: New Insights into Their Underwater Flight Using “Ava”, a Virtual Pliosaur. Preprints2019, 2019100094. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0094.v1
APA Style
Hawthorne, M., McMenamin, M., & De la Salle, P. (2019). How Plesiosaurs Swam: New Insights into Their Underwater Flight Using “Ava”, a Virtual Pliosaur. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0094.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Hawthorne, M., Mark McMenamin and Paul De la Salle. 2019 "How Plesiosaurs Swam: New Insights into Their Underwater Flight Using “Ava”, a Virtual Pliosaur" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201910.0094.v1
Abstract
Analysis of plesiosaur swim dynamics by means of a digital 3D armature (wireframe “skeleton”) of a pliosauromorph (“Ava”) demonstrates that: 1, plesiosaurs used all four flippers for primary propulsion; 2, plesiosaurs utilized all four flippers simultaneously; 3, respective pairs of flippers of Plesiosauridae, front and rear, traveled through distinctive, separate planes of motion, and; 4, the ability to utilize all four paddles simultaneously allowed these largely predatory marine reptiles to achieve a significant increase in acceleration and speed, which, in turn, contributed to their sustained dominance during the Mesozoic.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.